WASHINGTON – The Howard University Center for Applied Data Science and Analytics has named Talitha Washington, Ph.D., as its new executive director. Through research and academic programming, the center focuses on using data to achieve new insights into long-standing societal challenges and to protect the exploitation of data to harm historically marginalized groups. Washington will also hold the Sean McCleese Endowed Chair in Computer Science, Race, and Social Justice,  which supports scholarship, teaching, policy development and partnership building to ensure that emerging technologies and data analysis are equitable in their design and deployed to make the United States – and the world – a more just and inclusive place.   

“Dr. Talitha Washington’s leadership promises to advance Howard University’s ability to proliferate knowledge in the usage of data to reduce inequities, solve intercontinental problems, and leverage emerging opportunities to ensure that prosperity is an inclusive endeavor,” said Anthony K. Wutoh, Ph.D., R.Ph., Howard University's provost and chief academic officer. “It is critically important that we embrace the fusion of data and technology to help create a future where all global citizens are empowered to live fulfilling lives. I extend my deepest thanks to Dr. William Southerland, who has served as the interim director for CADSA since its inception. Dr. Southerland will continue to serve as a CADSA Faculty Committee member in addition to his ongoing role as the Director of the Research Center for Minority Institutions (RCMI) and Professor in the College of Medicine.”  

Washington is also the director of the U.S. National Science Foundation’s National Data Science Alliance (NSF NDSA), serves as the president of the Association for Women in Mathematics, and a member of the Census Scientific Advisory Committee of the U.S. Census Bureau. She has research interests in applied mathematics, dynamical systems, nonstandard finite difference schemes, data science, artificial intelligence, and education. 

While at NSF, Washington led the development, implementation, and management of the organization’s first Hispanic-Serving Institutions Program, coauthoring two solicitations which awarded $85 million in grants. She also worked in the NSF Convergence Accelerator program that accelerates use-inspired multidisciplinary research in areas of national importance. Most recently, she was the inaugural director of the Atlanta University Center (AUC) Data Science Initiative. 

“In these new roles at Howard University, I am honored to lead efforts in advancing data science, analytics, and artificial intelligence to tackle complex global problems, foster interdisciplinary collaboration, and create impactful experiential opportunities that drive the university’s mission of excellence, innovation, and service forward through the power of data,” said Washington. 

Washington completed her undergraduate studies in mathematics at Spelman College and studied a semester abroad at the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara in Mexico. She earned her master's and doctoral degrees in mathematics from the University of Connecticut. She recently received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from the University of Connecticut. Washington is a fellow of the American Mathematical Society, the Association for Women in Mathematics, and the American Academy for the Advancement of Science. 

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